I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a shaping tool die for shaping a component, in particular, a component fabricated from a steel sheet. More particularly, the invention relates to a shaping tool having adjustable upper and lower tool half die arrangements using a plurality of spaced adjustable die plates.
II. Related Art
It is known to use shaping tools that combine an upper shaping tool half with a corresponding lower shaping tool half which combine to shape a plate or other blank inserted and clamped therebetween. The upper and lower shaping tool halves normally have fixed shapes that are cast or forged and are limited to producing one particular shape of one particular item. One such device, which also includes a cooling aspect, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,047,037 B2. A further shaping tool arrangement made up of a plurality of components assembled together is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,757 B2. While those devices have met with success, they remain limited to producing a single shape and are expensive to repair.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a shaping tool die having a shape-adjustable upper shaping tool half and shape-adjustable lower shaping tool half such that the die shape can be varied. There also remains a need for such a shaping tool that has die plates that are readily replaceable.